SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 21

Manisha leaned her elbows on the railing, shuddering as her bare skin made contact with the ice cold metal. The action didn't go unnoticed by Abhishek and he didn't think much before he swiftly slipped off his suit jacket and placed it across her shoulders. If anybody asked him, he was just being chivalrous and abiding by the good manners that his father had instilled in him, that was all.

Manisha looked up in confusion when she suddenly felt fabric on her shoulders and she wanted to laugh when Abhishek coughed and evaded her gaze, suddenly finding the ground very interesting. Her heartbeat soared at the lovely gesture, and she felt like one of the female leads in those cheesy romantic dramas that Riya was obsessed with.

Manisha managed to take Abhishek completely by surprise when she shrugged his suit jacket off and inched closer to him until she was pressed against his side, awkwardly stretching across to place the jacket over both of them.

The legion of butterflies that had set base in her stomach swirled around softly, and it was a tight fit that didn't really cover either of her properly or shelter either of her from the cold, but the warmth in both of them hearts was enough in that moment.

Abhishek looked at her again, feeling a little more at ease when he saw a more genuine smile on her face this time. The smile on her face was mirrored by the one on his, and he was glad that she was looking and acting more like the Manisha he knew and not the manisha that had slightly scared him inside the room.

The two of them stood there for a few moments with racing pulses and small sparks flying off Her skin, acutely aware of the fact that they were standing extremely close to each other. Manisha  knew that she could easily choose to not say anything about what had just happened and that
Abhishek would wordlessly accept her choice and that would be the end of it.

But she didn't want to do that. He'd stood up for her back there without having a single clue, he'd defended her from Ashish's blows without being asked to, and she felt like the least She could do was give him a little context; she felt like she owed him at least that much.

Mani:-"As you probably figured, that was my ex," she started, the sound of her shaky voice cutting through the silence and instantly demanding all of Abhishek's attention, "We met through vishal. Ashish's been his best friend since high school - oh no, vishal's not seen the side of Ashish that you just saw, nobody really has," Manisha was quick to clarify when Abhishek looked mildly outraged at the fact that vishal had maintained a friendship with someone who treated her like shit.

Mani:-"Ashish's obsessed with keeping up appearances, he's really good at keeping up a facade in front of the world and fooling everyone," a bitter laugh escaped past her lips because she definitely knew about that fact a little too well, "Even though vishal doesn't really know what happened, it drove a bit of a wedge between them when we broke up, and they're not as close
as they used to be,"

Manisha paused, her gaze downcast as she fidgeted with the diamond ring on her left hand.

She didn't know how she felt when she recalled the short, blissful times she'd spent with Ashish, all the laughs and the kisses and the brief taste of heaven he'd given you, "He was really sweet and charming at first, and it was so easy to fall in love with him. The first month was perfect and I was really happy. I didn't think I could be any happier. And then he slowly
started to change...his true colours came out,"

"Life's full of surprises, isn't it?" She chuckled cynically, her laughter hollow and artificial and nothing like the sweet laughter Abhishek had grown accustomed to, "He became more controlling, more manipulative...more obsessive. It became clear that he had started dating
me because he wanted this 'perfect' girlfriend by his side, but he slowly started thinking I wasn't good enough...and he made sure I knew that. He enjoyed putting me down, it was like insulting me gave him satisfaction,"

Manisha closed her eyes as she revisited the harsh words and painful memories that she'd intended to bury forever, all the poisonous thoughts he'd planted in her still fresh in her mind.
He'd given her a brief taste of heaven...and then he'd dragged her to hell.

"He couldn't stand it when I talked to other guys. He thought I was his property and he
treated me like his possession instead of an actual human being. I had to do what he wanted me to do, or else he'd shout the place down," she continued weakly, tightly clutching the railing in front of her and feeling like she'd been transported back to the past and were stuckNin there again, "But in public, everyone thought that we were perfect together, we were seen
as the dream couple,"

Abhishek debated whether he should tell her to stop because he could feel her slightly trembling beside him, "He'd show me off like I was some sort of trophy in front of everyone, and then he would rip my self-esteem apart when it was just the two of us. It was a toxic relationship, so toxic...he made me feel worthless over and over again, but then he'd say sorry
and he'd guilt-trip me and I'd stay. It was a vicious, abusive cycle," Ashish had never laid a hand on her but he didn't have to; his words had been enough to break her down, brick by brick and stone by stone. Manisha self-respect had been shattered by
the time she brought herself to leave him, and it had been difficult to remain positive and optimistic and learn to love herself again when she reminded herself of the hundreds of times he'd told her that she was worth nothing.

Even now, a whole year later, she would find herself looking in the mirror sometimes and
all she'd see were the flaws he'd screamed at her about. Even now, a whole year later, her vibrant personality would falter sometimes and her confident words would die in her throat before they could leave her lips.

And manisha hated those moments of weakness where she gave Ashish's words the power to make her doubt herself, she really, really did.

Abhishek listened patiently as she laid her heart bare in front of him, the scowl on his face deepening with every word she said.

He'd been able to instantly tell that Ashish was the dumb of the Earth from the moment he'd laid eyes on him, and it had been confirmed when he spoke as if the entire world revolved around him...but he turned out to be even worse than that, so much worse than he'd imagined. Abhishek would have never been able to tell that manisha had been through so much if
She hadn't told him, and he was seriously regretting not punching the douchebag and
breaking his nose when he'd had the chance to.

Abhi:-"He didn't deserve you," he said finally, his heart constricting at the sight of the unshed tears gleaming in her eyes.
He couldn't believe how amazing Manisha was, and he was sure that he'd never met somebody as amazing as her. Ashish had crushed her self-esteem again and again but she hadn't let it define her, no, she'd conquered it. It had been a slow and tiresome journey but she hadn't let
Ashish take her personality away from her; she came into Abhishek's life with a sunny
smile and confidence dripping from her every move. He wished he could be as amazing as Her one day, that he could bandage up his scars from the past once and for all and fully move on too.

Manisha looked up at Abhishek when he spoke, his words paired with the admiration in his soft eyes making her heart leap and her tears well up even more. A sense of renewed calmness washed over manisha as she realised the difference between her past and her present, the
difference between Ashish and Abhishek, and the reality of where she stood right now, even if things between Manisha and Abhishek weren't so real.

She had no plans of going back; she is only going to keep moving forward.

"Thank you," a bright smile decorated her lips, and everything about this moment tickled Abhishek's heart, "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there. And I'm really sorry about the way he spoke to you, I -"

Abhishek cut Manisha off right then and there before she could even think of finishing that absurd sentence, "Why are you apologising when he's the insufferable dumb?" he questioned with an incredulous scoff and she fell silent at the interjection, her tearful smile widening.

Abhishek didn't know what came over him, and he was purely driven by impulse when he cupped her cheek with his palm and gently wiped one of the pearly tears that had managed to slip past her strong defences, "You are brave and beautiful, and he is a fucking dumb who never deserved you."